


but honey i'll be seein' you down every road

by moons2stars



Series: Riverdale Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, College Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I hope you aren't allergic to pine tree because there is a lot of pining here., Mild Angst, Oops there was only one bed, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed, and talk about feelings, in which they mutually pine, way more in depth than i meant to go but oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25625101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moons2stars/pseuds/moons2stars
Summary: Betty seems to make up her mind on whatever she had been contemplating. “We can get there at around 11:00 tonight with traffic if we left now and get our stuff really fast.”Jughead is baffled for a moment as Betty is usually very rational in her decision making.“You’re joking,right?”“Not at all. Juggie. This is your chance to get this all off your chest. I think you deserve to be heard, and your mom needs to know how you feel.”“Betty Cooper, I know you are not proposing we crash my mother’s wedding so I can spill years worth of childhood abandonment issues on the day of her wedding.”“I’m not saying you do it at her wedding.” Betty says as if she is offended that he would even think she would encourage that. “I’m saying that we can go, and you can talk to her before the wedding. Plus, you can’t crash a wedding you were invited to.”Or, Betty and Jughead reconnect on a spontaneous road trip under unique circumstances.Riverdale Bingo Summer 2020- Bed Sharing
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Riverdale Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857520
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Riverdale Bingo Summer 2020





	but honey i'll be seein' you down every road

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! i hope you enjoy. I definitely went a lot deeper than I meant to, and there is some talk about family issues but not too heavy. Mostly just pining and bed sharing.

“There has to be a mistake.”Jughead says as he drops his bag onto the floor and stares at the bed in the middle of their hotel room. 

Betty doesn’t seem as phased.Instead she plops her bag much more gracefully than he did, and sits on the bed.“The people at the front desk did say they were at full capacity, and they probably thought we were a couple.”

He tries to hide his involuntary blush at the idea of someone thinking they are together by rubbing his hand over his face.“This is just great!” 

Betty frowns at his sarcastic tone, and Jughead realizes too late that he probably made her think it was a bad thing to be associated with her or that he was throwing a fit about sharing a bed with her which wasn’t the case at all. It’s been such a long day, and he feels tired from the five hour road trip. “I didn’t realize it was such a terrible thing to share the bed with me. I’ll sleep on the couch if it’s that big of an issue.” Betty says looking the slightest bit disheartened which makes him feel like even more of a dick. 

It’s not that he doesn’t want to share the bed with her because he is repulsed or has any sort of negative feelings towards her as it’s quite the opposite. Jughead had known Betty since kindergarten when Archie had introduced him to her wide eyed with curly blonde pigtails. She had defended him against the likes of Reggie and Chuck, and he had vouched for her when Archie would only allow boys up into his tree house. He knew he had a crush on her in the sixth grade when she had helped him make four dozen cookies for Jellybean's class party. When he had found out about Betty's crush on Archie in the eighth grade, he was reminded that he didn't deserve her and he never would. After that he never even entertained the idea of them being more than friends despite the connection he felt with her. Even if he refused to acknowledge it, there was times it was impossible to deny she felt it too.

“No that’s not what I meant. It’s not terrible sleeping next to you. In fact it’s great sleeping with you. That came out wrong.” Jughead rubbed his hand over his face and exhaled. He sure had a talent for making things way more awkward than they meant to be. “I just meant that I don't mind sharing the bed, but only if you want to.”

Betty mercifully puts a stop to his babbling and lightly touches his shoulder. “Jughead. It’s okay. We’ll share the bed. It's king sized anyways.”

After they are both showered, and in their sleep clothes, they settle into the bed. Despite the easy flowing conversation they had on the road, the silence in the room feels uncomfortable. They are feet apart on the over sized bed, and Jughead is trying to make things less awkward even though he's probably making things worse.

“You can scoot closer you know. I’m not going to bite, and you’re practically falling off the bed.” Betty says as she looks over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make things awkward. I just don’t want to cross any boundaries.”

Betty rolls her eyes though he sees her lips pull up in a fond smile. “Jug, we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, and we used to have sleepovers all the time. This doesn’t have to be awkward.”

Jughead sits up as he feels restless. “Yeah well that’s different. We were like five, and Archie was always there.” He wishes he would just bite his tongue, and not make things more awkward than they need to. 

She furrows her brows and sits up as well. “How is it any different now?”

“It’s just- things are more complicated.”

The look in her eyes are harsh yet he can see hurt in them. “Like what? Our friendship? Because you are the only one who is making it complicated. I have to practically corner you in order to be able to have any kind of interaction.”

He is speechless for a moment, and then he feels hurt that she would even think that Jughead still doesn't stop what's on the tip of his tongue. It's times like these he wasn't so quick with his words. “Oh so is this what this trip is? You use my problems so we can be best friends for life or whatever college buddy fantasy you saw in the movies, and all is well.” He regrets what he said the moment it came out of his mouth, but it’s too late.

“Is that what you think?” Betty says with her eyes wide with hurt but her posture frigid in defense. “I offered this trip, because I knew you needed- you deserved to get closure, and I wanted to help you get that. Yeah maybe I missed you, and I appreciated an excuse to be around you, but it’s not like I expected you to reciprocate any kind of mutual value of our friendship, because that ship sailed a long time ago.” 

For a second, Jughead feels hurt and angry that she would even think that. He has always valued his friendship with Betty, and her overall presence in his life. Then he remembers that he hasn’t exactly given her any reason to believe he does. He had been so afraid of their friendship ending or turning for the worst, he forgot to help nurture it.

“Betty-”

“I’m pretty tired, and you have an early morning tomorrow so we should get some rest.” She lays down and turns around and switches off the lamp on her side of the bed.

  
  


He stares at her frigid form, and thinks back to earlier today. Things seemed to be going so well despite the circumstance, and yet they are here now.

  
  
  


* * *

Jughead is barreling through the campus after his last class of the day which luckily is pretty early in the afternoon on Fridays when his shoulder collides with someone else’s. He’s about to apologize and keep waking, because he is on a mission, but then he hears a familiar voice.

“Hey, Jug. Where is the fire?” He turns to see Betty looking concerned but not angry. 

“Sorry, Betty. I should’ve been looking where I was going.” He says apologetically. He feels calmer now than before in her presence as he usually does around her.

“No worries. Are you okay?” She asks with her brow furrowed in concern. 

“Yeah. Today has just been swamped.” 

Betty seems to sense his distress as usual. “Are you sure? You look troubled.”

“I just found out my mom is getting married tomorrow, and she failed to tell both me and my dad. I mean I get my dad, because she honestly doesn’t owe him anything, but I thought she would care enough to at least tell me so I didn’t have to find out through some generalized wedding invitation I got a day before the wedding through a text, because she apparently forgot to mail nine out months ago.” He doesn’t realize he’s raising his voice until everyone else around them starts staring at him like he is a lunatic. Betty doesn’t seem embarrassed or scared to be in his proximity. Instead she is looking at him with soft eyes as if she feels everything he feels even if she can’t understand it. She has always been extremely empathetic to everyone which is one of the many things he admires about her. “It’s probably for the best that I wasn’t invited. I don’t think I could trust myself not to start telling her off or make a fool of myself. Which is honestly what I was going to do, and what I would have been doing if I hadn't bumped into you so thank you.”

She seems to be contemplating something.“Where is the wedding?” 

“In some fancy hotel with a grand venue that she would probably make fun of in my youth.” He scoffs.

“No. I mean how far is it from here?”

He furrows her brows at the specific question. “I don’t know about five hours. Why?”

She seems to make up her mind on whatever she had been contemplating. “We can get there at around 11:00 tonight with traffic if we left now and get our stuff really fast.”

Jughead is baffled for a moment as Betty is usually very rational in her decision making. “You’re joking, right?” 

She shakes her head and remains confident in her wording. “Not at all. Juggie, this is your chance to get this all of your chest. I think you deserve to be heard, and your mom needs to know how you feel.”

“Betty Cooper, I know you are not proposing we crash my mother’s wedding so I can spill years worth of childhood abandonment issues on the day of her wedding.”

“I’m not saying you do it at her wedding.” Betty says as if she is offended that he would even think she would encourage that. “I’m saying that we can go, and you can talk to her before the wedding. Plus, you can’t crash a wedding you were invited to.”

“I don’t want to get you involved in this mess.” He says though he already did when he spilled all of his problems to her in the middle of the hallway.

“I’m getting myself involved. Besides, I’ll only be there for transportation and moral support. I know how much you hate driving in traffic.”

Jughead doesn’t know if he is generally the most rational person. He has made some pretty questionable decisions in the past, but for the most part he has tried to keep under the radar. Going on a spontaneous road trip with his childhood best friend who he has been in love with for most of his life to go confront his mom right before her wedding to a man he’s never met before isn’t exactly under the radar. 

  
  


“Fuck it. Let’s go.”

* * *

For the first thirty minutes of the car ride, neither of them talk though Betty does look at him from the driver’s seat every few seconds as if she wants to say something. Jughead thinks about what he could say, but nothing comes up. They do have a lot of catching up to do as they hardly see each other as it is which is probably mostly his fault as he hasn’t exactly made an effort to keep in touch as much as she had to him despite going to the same school as her.

“It’s been a while since we’ve talked.” She says seeming to finally have enough of the awkward silence. 

“Yeah. I’ve just been swamped with midterms. I’ve hardly had anytime to write anything other than essays.” Jughead says as he looks out the window and sees endless trees 

“Same here. What are you doing over Christmas break?” 

“I’m visiting my dad it seems.” He sighs. He isn’t excited about visiting his dad, but they are at a pretty decent place in their relationship. “What about you? Will you be returning to the belly of the beast?”

Betty flexes her hand on the wheel but remains focused on the road. “Unfortunately.”

“Is she still giving you the cold shoulder?” He asks sympathetically recalling the events of the end of their senior year.

During their senior year of high school when everyone was getting acceptance letters from colleges, He had yet to make his decision until the end of the school year and as it turned out so had Betty who was deciding between going the route her mother had wanted her to go a college near Riverdale so she could be home to work at the register or attend Yale and pursue a different route. Jughead on the other hand was concerned about financial aid, and he didn’t even think he had options other than to stay in town.Though he did apply to a variety of schools including Yale from the persuasion of the guidance counselor who wouldn’t leave him alone all school year and Betty who hardly ever left him alone his entire life(not that he was complaining).

“You never know what might happen.” She had assured him one night while they were at her house when they explored possibilities. She was right of course. He got a variety of acceptance letters and some scholarships, and for one of the first times in his life he had options. 

Betty ended up choosing against her mother's wishes which resulted in Alice not talking or acknowledging her until she left for college even then she didn't get out of her car to hug Betty goodbye. Though Betty hardly talks about her mother or their relationship, he knows it's a particular sore subject. Still, he tries to support her in the ways he can as she supports him.

“It’s not as bad as before, but things are still tense.” She says nonchalantly though he can see that it still bothers her. 

“I’ll be in town as well so I’m always here if you need me. We can even spend some time at Pop’s if you’d be up for it.” He says while trying not to come off too strongly or that he's trying to push his help onto her.

Betty seems to brighten up at the offer. “Of course I’d be up for it. I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah, I missed you too.” He says trying to hide his involuntary blush. 

About two hours later, Jughead takes over driving despite Betty’s insistence to keep driving.

“You have a big day tomorrow.” She protested.

“And you’ve been driving for over two hours. We agreed to take turns.” He said as he jerked his head in the direction of a stop n go. He knew Betty would fight it as she often didn't like taking help as did he but they went at it differently. He gasses up the car while Betty goes in and gets snacks upon her insistence since he payed for the gas.

"I'm trusting you to get the good ones, Cooper." He teases her before she goes in.

The rest of the car ride goes by quickly with comfortable small talk, and they stop for dinner at a waffle house. Jughead feels a sense of nostalgia yet with a feeling of being care free.

Despite the wonderful evening, he is reminded of why he took this trip when they check into the hotel. Because of the wedding the next day, a lot of the rooms are taken so they can only get one. He feels tense with nerves and anticipation, and wonders if this is even a good idea. He can feel his pulse thrumming as the clerk gets the key.

"Are you okay?" Betty asks sensing his change in demeanor. 

"Yeah. Just tired." He dismisses instead of saying what's on his mind. He doesn't know if he's just tired or if getting here has acted as a splash of cold water, but suddenly he feels his confidence dip. He got the room number from JB who surprisingly didn't ask any questions( though he is sure he will hear something about it when they go out for lunch like they do every month) but he has no idea what he even wants to say or how to approach his mom. They have only had two conversations in the past twelve years. The first one was when he was fourteen at Christmas, and the other was when he graduated high school. the only updates he gets on her are through JB so it's not like he knows where her head is at. 

"It's going to be fine, Jug." 

"I know."

* * *

Now in the too big bed in the too cold room, Jughead is thinking about all the possible ways he can apologize in the morning when Betty wakes up though he has doubts that she is actually asleep from her breathing pattern.Still he doesn’t know how to approach the situation without possibly making it worse. 

Betty breaks the silence. “Jug?”

“Yeah?” 

“Are you awake?” Her voice is small and unsure.

He laughs softly at the question. “Yes. Are you?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I can sleep.”

“Me either.” Jughead turned on his side so he was facing Betty who had already turned towards him. The lights in the room were off, but there was a little bit of light filtering in from the window from the street lights. “I’m sorry I undermined your intentions. I know you support me, and I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate that. It’s just hard accepting it sometimes especially when I don’t deserve it.”

“Of course you deserve it, Jug. You deserve so much better than you are willing to give yourself." She says earnestly and looks at him with a certain reverence that sweeps the air from his lungs. "I’m sorry I said you don’t value our friendship.”

“I do value our friendship, Betts. I just suck at showing it.” Jughead sighs as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Sometimes I think distancing myself is just easier.”

“Easier than what?” She asks with eyes sparkling with curiosity. They are so close, he can feel her breath.

“Than admitting the obvious.”

“What do you mean?” Betty asks with bated breath. 

“That I’m in love with you.I have been ever since we were in the sixth grade.” Betty takes a sharp intake of breath at his words. “I think that that’s why I’ve always been kind of distant especially as of lately.I used to think that I could live my life just accepting the fact that we would never be together, and you wouldn’t have to know about how I felt on the off chance you didn’t feel the same way. Then we started getting older and moving on to bigger chapters of our life together, and I realized that it was harder to imagine a lifestyle without you in it. I know there are a lot of things we can’t choose in life, but I always want to choose one with you in it. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way but-”

He doesn’t finish, because Betty’s lips are on his, and everything feels complete and right in the world. Her lips are cold yet so soft, and he feels so warm. His hand comes up to cup her cheek as her hands thread through his hair. He isn't sure how long they stay like that, but when they pull apart he keeps his eyes closed and his hand still framing her face. When he opens his eyes he can see that Betty eyes are fluttering open as well.

  
  


“Of course I feel the same way. I just never said anything, because I didn’t think you saw me that way, and I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship.” She says as she brushes a piece of hair away from his forehead, and smiles brightly in the dimly it room. "I guess we're both oblivious."

He chuckles, and presses a kiss to her forehead. "I guess so, but it was worth the wait."

* * *

  
When Jughead first wakes up, it takes him a few moments to register where he is, and what happened last night. He is overjoyed to know it wasn't a dream, and he had finally confessed his feeling to Betty Cooper, and she had kissed him. He smiles like an idiot and opens his eyes to light filtering through the windows and Betty's soft hair in his face which is the best thing to wake up to. She is still sleeping which is pretty rare as she is notorious of being a early riser where as he sleeps as late as he can. He figures she needed the sleep with driving, and school does take a toll. In a couple minutes, Betty slowly stirs awake and smiles brightly at him. 

"Hey you." Jughead says as he brushes the hair from her face.

"Good morning." She says with a sleepy smile as she stretches out like a cat. "Did you sleep good?"

"I slept great. Did you?" He asks as he plays with the ends of her hair.

"The best." She says happily as she leans in to press a kiss to his lips. "What time is it?"

"Around 8:30. I probably should get up soon." He says yet makes no move to get up.

He eventually gets up after a few more minutes of enjoying staying in bed with Betty., and reluctantly gets ready for the day. Not only does he not want to leave Betty after an amazing night, but he's starting really doubt his plans of confronting his mother.

"Are you ready to do this?" Betty asks from the door way of the small bathroom.

"I'm not sure." He says thinking about his parents marriage and how they always seemed to be on different paths. They chose different ones that may have hurt him, and though he does deserve closure he doesn't think this is the place or time. 

Betty looks at him earnestly and surely, and wraps her hands around his."I'll be here for whatever you decide." 

Though she is probably addresses this particular situation, Jughead realizes that statement had been a constant assurance from Betty ever since he had known her even if she hadn't always spoken it aloud. There was so much in his life that was out of his control, and had no regard for his choice, but in the choices he did make she always supported him. Even if she sometimes pushed him in places she knew he could do better, she always let him choose and not only accepted him but welcomed him. She was always there for him on every chapter, and every road of his life. 

"I don't think I need to do this now. I do want to talk to her, but I don't think it's the place."

She nods understandingly, and then cups a face and pulls him into a soft kiss. "That's okay."

"I'm sorry I had us drive five hours to change my mind though I guess I'm not really sorry because i don't regret the events that occurred." Jughead admits as he smiles down at her.

"We needed this trip, Juggie. I don't regret it either." She said with a bright smile and then pressed another soft kiss to his lips. "Besides,I love a good detour."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to tumble with me at moons2stars


End file.
